# La route est dure, la vie est morne
# Mon ame est sure d'aucune borne
# Que dois-je faire avec ma vie
# Quand toute la terre s'est endurcie? #
TYRES SQUEAK
IN HEAD: How I hate the summer.
No, no, my dear, I-I don't like that a bit.
Overstated, don't you think?
Naively so.
He seems to have assumed the Christ figure!
WOMAN LAUGHS
What's that behind him, the dark angel?
One suspects he couldn't really have been serious.
SHE LAUGHS
Altogether too little...
You know, I don't care much for Gauguin when he tries to think.
SHE LAUGHS The real Gauguin is the decorator.
Sh! Sh! Sorry!
LAUGHTER CONTINUES
Oh, no!
Ivich? Yes.
Please forgive me. What for? What happened on the way here.
Oh, that? I'd forgotten all about it.
IN HEAD: She doesn't want me.
And now I look at things, I don't want her.
How did I come to kiss her, then?
She's so...limp.
Quite the opposite to Marcelle.
Marcelle is all woman -
huge thighs, plump.
Yes, she'll be even plumper if I don't organise things soon.
Oh, forget Marcelle for a minute, will you?
He was good-looking, wasn't he?
Oh? He has an air of distinction.
Arrogance, perhaps. LAUGHS: Quite!
Why do you say "quite" like that?
Well, one would expect you to call it arrogance.
You French hate anything noble.
Why "we" French? You were born here, weren't you?
Only just.
IN HEAD: But for the revolution, she'd have been born in Moscow -
a daughter of the aristocracy, presented at court,
probably married by now to some fine, upstanding Guards officer
with a narrow forehead and an empty face.
I'm a let-down for her - French, middle class,
with a dislike of things aristocratic.
Not her type at all.
He turned his back on France, didn't he?
What?
Gauguin.
Would you like me to tell you his life story?
Well, I know that he was married with children,
but that didn't prevent his clearing off.
He worked in a bank.
On Sundays, he wandered off into the suburbs
with his paint box and his easel.
He was a Sunday painter. A Sunday painter?
An amateur who messed about with
colours and canvases.
SHE CHUCKLES
Why so funny? Are there Sunday writers too?
You mean me, my bits of writing?
Well, perhaps I'LL be like Gauguin -
pack it all up and clear off to Tahiti one of these days.
You? I doubt it.
Oh! People do make the break sometimes.
Gauguin remained a clerk till he was 40.
There can't be many clerks like him.
Look at his face. He's lost.
You mean I am not lost?
Certainly not! Do you think that's a fault? Hmm?
I ought to be lost? Let's drop it.
You think I should be lost? It's a word. That's all.
I'd like to know what you meant.
Look, some people are lost and some people are not lost.
As far as I can tell, it makes no odds.
You're settled, stable. You couldn't change.
How do you know?
It's the impression you give - set in your ways, your ideas.
Am I?
Too intelligent to take risks, let's say?
So, if you tell me you aren't like that... No, I'm like that.
I'm just like that. Ah! You despise me for it?
On the contrary, I approve.
With you, there's a sense of security,
never any fear of the unexpected.
Thank you.
I'm meeting my brother at Les Deux Magots later this afternoon.
Like to join us?
I'm sorry. I've, er, got another appointment.
Oh.
I forgot to tell you.
My brother suggested we might all go to the Sumatra Club tonight.
That's where Lola's singing. That's right. We'll make up a foursome.
Trouble is, I don't think she likes me very much.
She loathes you.
But what does that matter?
All four of us sitting around a table
could get a little embarrassing.
Why? We'll be drinking and dancing, I hope.
Besides, I want you there and Boris wants you there,
so to hell with Lola!
Well, I'll think about it.
Is that what I'm to tell Boris? Yeah.
He won't like it, your staying away because of his woman.
Oh, don't you suggest to Boris
that I've got anything against Lola, will you?
As a matter of fact, I find her very warm, sympathetic.
Well, isn't that just like you?
The moment people dislike you,
you must do your best to discover virtues in them.
I find Lola quite unreal. Ah?
Always playing a part, usually a very desperate one.
How can she be desperate when she has all that money?
Money doesn't stop her from getting old.
True. One oughtn't ever to get old.
You're right.
It isn't very pleasant.
You enjoy the pictures?
Of course I do.
Are you ready, my darlings?
CATS MEOW
I want you to leap out and claw my face to pieces
if you feel like it. I deserve it.
Revenge is sweet, is it not?
MEOWING CONTINUES
Right.
Is that the best you can do?!
Aren't you going to punish me?
Pity.
Oh, my darling!
You've got a naughty master, haven't you?
Naughty, naughty master!
You'll never forgive me, will you? BELL RINGS
Oh, dear, somebody to interrupt us!
Ah! Mathieu, my dear chap!
Come in. Come in.
Oh, Poppea's feeling poorly. Malvina must have clawed her.
It really is too bad of her.
I was taking a little walk to my sister's.
I really thought they would have behaved in there, but they didn't.
HE TUTS
Excuse me, will you?
Put the basket behind the chair,
will you, my dear fellow? It rather frightens them.
There, there!
CAT MEOWS
You be a good little pussy!
Flesh wounds can turn awfully nasty, can't they?
SIGHS: Forgive me, my dear Thieu. I won't keep you a minute.
I've known you a long time, Daniel.
There's no need to cast your velvet eyes on me.
HE CHUCKLES
IN HEAD: Velvet eyes?
Velvet eyes indeed.
He's sticking labels on me as if I was an object up for sale.
There.
Marcelle is pregnant.
Pregnant?
I'm in a mess.
CHUCKLES: Yes, you MUST be.
IN HEAD: Control yourself! You mustn't laugh.
Think of your dear mother's death. Yes. Yes, that's better.
She's shocked by it. She feels humiliated and degraded.
Well, it can hardly be any better for you, dear chap. Whatever
your deeper feeling, she must seem rather off-putting at the moment.
I no longer feel any love for her.
You don't? Have you told her?
No, of course I haven't.
I'll see her through this business first.
I've found a doctor, a gynaecologist who'll do the job. He wants...
..4,000 francs.
4,000?!
Will you help me? I could pay you back half at the end of the month,
the other half on July the 14th
when I get my cheque for the long vacation. 4,000 francs?
My dear fellow, I simply haven't got it.
But didn't you tell me the other day...? Oh, yes, I know.
I thought I'd be rolling in it by now.
But you know what the stock exchange is.
Shares have tumbled.
I'm in debt.
You can't manage it?
No, I'm awfully sorry, my dear chap. I'm afraid I can't.
What about your brother?
I wanted to avoid asking Jacques.
Oh, but he must realise that this is an emergency.
Well, that's the trouble. I can't tell him what it's for.
Ah! Yes, of course.
Actually, I'm rather glad I haven't got the money. What?
A thought's just struck me.
You're always going on about your search for freedom, aren't you?
Well, here's your opportunity.
I don't... Haven't you said that to be free means
acting against your own nature, if need be?
What? Well, then, proclaim your freedom by marrying Marcelle.
You're not serious. Certainly I am!
You have it in your power to change your whole life.
Marry her as a supreme act of freedom.
THEY LAUGH
Oh, I'm not falling for that.
But what an amusing experience, Mathieu. Mmm.
To do the exact opposite of what one wants to do?
One would have the feeling of being somebody else.
Oh, yeah. Very nice.
I father a whole load of brats for the sole privilege
of feeling like somebody else.
Anybody can change by giving up and giving in.
Ah, but to give up entirely, that would be something!
To be an utter wash-out, absolutely done for, finished?
Marriage can do that to a man, so I'm told. Hmm.
I'd rather ask my brother for the money, thank you.
Nice seeing you. Well, if I do happen to come into the money
in the next week... Don't worry about it. I'll...find it somehow.
Bye, then. Goodbye, my dear Thieu.
IN HEAD: Four of these, only four,
and his trouble would have been over.
But why shouldn't he have troubles?
He's always so balanced and composed.
He SHOULD have troubles.
It'd be worth a fortune if he were forced to marry Marcelle.
Why are you staring? Just wondering what you're thinking about.
Nothing. Impossible!
One's always thinking about something.
Well, I was thinking about nothing.
You're always wandering off into a dream world lately.
It's a means of getting away from me, isn't it, Boris?
You're fed up with me.
No, I'm never fed up.
That's not the answer I wanted.
I don't lie! You should try it sometime.
Lying? Yes.
Will you sleep with me? You'd like it.
A few lies now and then could be reassuring.
But you'd know they were lies.
I'm in love!
I'd believe anything.
Mathieu once told me... Oh, I'm sick of hearing about Mathieu!
..that he and his woman were absolutely truthful with each other.
SHE CHUCKLES Mathieu is real. Mathieu is real?
Look, Lola, I've had teachers galore, but Mathieu is the first one
who practises what he preaches... Whoops!
No, he doesn't preach. He communicates his own set of values.
And what are these great values?
Well, he doesn't lie, to start with... He's a bloody saint!
..neither to himself, nor to other people!
SHE LAUGHS
Oh, all right!
He's envied because he's independent.
Independent?
I'm the one who's independent.
He's safe and secure.
And he has a teacher's salary with a pension at the end of it.
I live from day to day.
Trouble is...
..I'm in love with you...
..and you're not in love with me.
Lola... Don't say anything.
You'd just make matters worse.
I'm deeply fond of you, Lola.
That isn't love.
Well, perhaps it's better than love.
Mathieu says love... Oh, damn Mathieu!
PHONE RINGS
Mathieu would like to see Madame? Erm...
Yes, just to say good morning. Tell my brother I'll be along
to see him in a few minutes.
Morning, Thieu!
Is this my visit?
YOUR visit?
You promised me one.
Ah! Wish it were. No, I'm afraid I have to see Jacques.
There's something I want him to do for me. Oh, come now!
You're not in such a hurry as all that. Jacques won't run away. Sit down!
I warn you - one of these days, I shall be very angry with you.
I have a right to my visit.
How are you, Odette? Very well.
That's...
That's a very nice frock you're wearing.
Oh, come now. Leave my frock out of it!
Every time you see me, you talk about my frocks.
I prefer to hear what YOU'VE been doing this week.
There's... There's something I think I ought to tell you.
Heavens! What is it?
I was wondering whether you shouldn't wear earrings with it.
Earrings?
What, you think that a trifle common?
Not at all.
Only, they give the face a rather forward look.
Still, I think if I did wear them,
you'd certainly be more at ease with me.
But it's wrong of me to keep you.
You seem to have something on your mind, so run along, then.
Run along and see Jacques. All right. I'll...
I'll see you again before I go.
HE KNOCKS ON DOOR
Ah, Mathieu! Come in.
Good morning, Mathieu. How are things?
Morning, Jacques.
Well, what brings you here?
Ah.
Something wrong?
Here, take a chair.
Care for a whisky?
Yeah, whisky'll go down very well.
IN HEAD: How about drinking the whisky and clearing off
without saying a word? No, it's too late.
He already guesses I've come for a loan.
He'll simply think I haven't the courage to ask for it.
After all, a good gin fizz is a better drink for the hot weather.
Don't you think? I've come to touch you for money.
You know that, don't you? No, I didn't know that.
Well, how SHOULD I know that?
Do you mean to insinuate this is the sole object of your visit?
I don't mean to insinuate anything. I need 4,000 francs by tomorrow.
4,000?!
Well, well, well!
I find you amusing, my dear Thieu. Amusing and instructive.
You know, when I consider you, Mathieu, I'm more convinced
than ever that one oughtn't to be a man of principles.
THEY LAUGH
You're chock-a-block with them.
You invent them, but you don't stick to them.
Now, I, as a simple, empirical, middle-class man,
living without principles and ideals,
can't help wondering how you find the nerve
to take anything from a bloody bourgeois!
LAUGHS: I mean, that's what I am -
a bloody bourgeois!
THEY LAUGH
Yes.
And what's worse, you despise the smug security of family ties,
yet you're only too prepared to exploit those family ties
when you're short of cash.
You wouldn't dream of coming to me if I weren't your brother.
All this doesn't bore you, I hope.
No, no, no. I find it most illuminating.
I'm right, you know.
If you stopped being so high-minded and got down to a bit of ordinary,
day-to-day organisation of your life...
Ah, but you couldn't reject your principles, could you?
Oh, I don't know. The rejection of principles is in itself a principle.
THEY LAUGH
Coming from you, I don't much like the sound of that.
IN HEAD: He's weakening. He's talked himself to a standstill.
Now he's in the mood to hand it over.
My luck's in!
Mathieu. Yes?
Has something sudden turned up?
Hmm? Well, when you called to see me last week,
there was no question of your needing money then.
Yeah, well, something cropped up yesterday.
4,000 francs?
It's not the usual small sum to tide you over
till the end of the month, is it?
I'm not, of course, asking you any questions.
IN HEAD: I'll tell him it's the income tax.
No... Wait. He knows I've paid it.
Nothing for it. Here goes!
Marcelle is pregnant.
Oh. When's the wedding?
We've decided to have an abortion.
Have you found a doctor? Yes.
And why do you want the money by tomorrow?
Because the doctor leaves for America by the end of the week.
Right! Yes, understood.
And you're quite sure that abortion is in accordance
with your principles?
Why not?
Well, I don't know. It's for you to say.
You ARE a pacifist,
you respect human life,
and now you're going to destroy a life.
I may be a pacifist, but I don't respect human life.
Oh, indeed? I thought...
Yes, well, all the same,
here you are in the guise of a child killer.
It doesn't suit you at all, my dear.
Abortion is not infanticide.
True, abortion is not infanticide.
It is a metaphysical murder.
Now, I have nothing against metaphysical murder
more than against any other perfect crime,
but that YOU should commit a metaphysical murder -
you being what you are...
HE TUTS
..aren't you ashamed?
I'm ashamed. Why?
Because you're such a baby!
I love to hear you say that word. It suits your voice!
You know the number you sing?
Yes, I Must Have Your Love, Baby. It's marvellous.
You should have seen me years ago.
There was only one name on the bill then. Lola Montero.
And I held them - just me - all night.
But you've made your mark, Lola. Mmm... Yes!
You're part of our mythology!
But it's true! You stop anybody you meet in the street
and ask them, "Who is Lola Montero?"
and they'll say, "Boy!" Yes! For me, for people my age, you're a legend.
You bastard!
HE LAUGHS
You're a great boost for me.
Every part of you.
You know that, don't you?
I've told you I have a deep affection.
Yes.
I hate this lousy job.
They're the worst audiences I've ever known.
Afternoon, Lola.
Ah! Ivich!
I hear you're coming to see me tonight.
I'm looking forward to it.
Incidentally, Mathieu isn't sure if he can make it. Mathieu?
I didn't know we'd invited Mathieu.
I simply thought that he could accompany Ivich. That's all. Mmm.
I have to collect some clothes from the cleaner's.
You always have to collect clothes from the cleaner's!
Certainly! In my work, I sweat.
Or didn't you know that?
Bye-bye, youth!
Bye, Lola!
CHAIR SCRAPES FLOOR
She does dress her age, doesn't it?
She does it as a challenge.
Do you really prefer older women?
Well, they're reliable.
When they love, they love... And young girls don't?
Well, they play at it.
Does she still dope?
She's loaded with it. For the thrill?
No, no, no thrill. Just simply to relax.
Oh, God! When you get to that stage, you must be old.
Hey, what's wrong with Mathieu?
Hmm?
You just said that he had doubts about joining us this evening.
Well, he knows that Lola isn't very fond of him.
Well, Lola will have to get to like him -
that is, if she wants to keep on with me.
Given Mathieu and Lola, you'd choose Mathieu?
Of course.
Are you basically queer?
Are you basically les?
SHE CHUCKLES
No, I couldn't sleep with a man.
But there's only one Mathieu.
My dear, dear brother, you're lying to yourself!
And I prefer not to be a party to it.
This coming child is the logical result of a situation
which you entered of your own free will,
and you wish to suppress it because you haven't the courage to
follow up the consequences of your own acts.
The plain truth is that your whole life is founded upon a lie.
How interesting. Do go on.
You see, what you're trying to hide
from yourself is the fact that you are a bourgeois.
You are bourgeois in your tastes, you are bourgeois in your habits,
and you are bourgeois in your temperament. Indeed.
And what could be more bourgeois
than your relationship with Marcelle? Mmm?
It's the same as any ordinary bourgeois marriage,
except for one thing.
You refuse to take on your full responsibilities.
I prefer to retain my freedom.
Oh, well, I should have thought myself that freedom consisted
in confronting the situations one has deliberately chosen to enter
and acting upon them. Oh, but not you.
Yours isn't freedom at all. It's simply...
..well, pulling faces while sitting on the fence.
You condemn our capitalist society, yet you remain a civil servant.
You're a communist sympathiser, but you don't join them.
And as for Marcelle, you keep her for years in a humiliating position
simply because you haven't the courage to do the decent thing.
It's all freedom from, not freedom for.
That isn't freedom at all.
You hide behind your principles as a cowardly means
of escaping from life. Yeah, well... No, no, no, please, please, let...
..let me finish.
I worry about you.
You're a grown man.
You've reached the age of reason.
Yes, but there's a thing, too - you can't accept maturity.
You try to be younger than you are.
All the same, I'd like to be fair on you.
The age of reason, my dear Mathieu,
is the achievement of full moral health, order and responsibility.
Yes, perhaps I've got there sooner than you have. Another?
Well, I'm not bringing your youth up against you.
IN HEAD: He's away now.
He's going to tell me about his bohemian youth,
his years of fashionable dissipation.
But he managed to reform, all right.
He found his moral health when he married a dowry of 600,000 francs!
HE LAUGHS IN HEAD
He bought a lawyer's practice.
..dribbling them away.
Indeed, you still haven't finished the process.
The result is you're still an irresponsible student of bohemian.
It doesn't suit you at all!
Your hair's receding. You're no longer young.
You've attained the age of reason, my dear Mathieu.
You've attained the age of reason. Or you should have done.
The age of reason, yes. Not the age of resignation.
Listen. I'm going to make you a proposal.
Well, you are my brother, and I want to put you on the right track.
I shall not lend you the 4,000 francs, but I'm going to give you
10,000 francs if you agree to marry the lady.
Hmm?
HE LAUGHS
Er... Thank you, Jacques. You're very kind, but it will not do.
Not? I won't say you're wrong all the way along the line,
but if ever I do get married, it'll be because I want to.
At the moment, it would just be
a clumsy effort to get myself out of a mess. Well, mull it over.
Take your time. Your wife would be very welcome here -
I needn't tell you that. Odette would be delighted.
Think about it. I've thought about it. Well, as you please.
When shall we see you next? Erm... Sunday, say?
Yes, come for lunch. Thanks.
And if you change your mind, my offer still holds.
Goodbye, Jacques. Goodbye, Mathieu.
Anything wrong?
He said he'd look in on me before he left.
SIGHS: How forgetful!
Yes, he has things on his mind.
What things?
Well, personal things.
I'm sure they wouldn't interest you.
No, I'm sure they wouldn't.
HE HUMS TUNE
CAT MEOWS
IN HEAD: It's too early to arrive at Marcelle's.
I think I shall go for a bit of a walk.
Now, now, Daniel, don't lie to yourself!
You know what "going for a bit of a walk" means.
You've got that feeling in the blood, haven't you?
It's started up again.
Yes, it's such a warm night.
I know, I know, but I need a little distraction!
I shan't go to bed with one of them, I swear it.
I shall guard against temptation.
Besides, I haven't time.
Not if I'm seeing Marcelle.
Oh, God! With this heat, Marcelle will stink so!
However much women wash, they always smell.
The air in her room will be hardly fit to breathe.
Why do I see her, locked in a room with a woman
when it makes me so sick?
And now she's pregnant, of all horrors.
That's a bit of extra torture I didn't bargain for.
So, to make things even, I shall go for my bit of a walk.
Now, don't call it "a bit of a walk".
You're going to the amusement arcade, aren't you?
Very well! But I shan't get up to anything.
I shall have a little look, that's all.
OUT LOUD: You wouldn't deny your master his little look
at those naughty, naughty boys and those dirty old men, now, would you?
IN HEAD: "Aeroplanes bomb Valencia.
"40 aeroplanes circled over the centre of the city today
"and dropped 150 bombs.
"The exact number of dead and wounded is not yet ascertained."
" 'I shall never marry Greta Garbo,' says Tarkovsky."
OUT LOUD: Wow.
"Preparations for the state visit of Their Majesties,
"King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
"The entire people of France are..."
The entire people of France are shits.
IN HEAD: Yes, Gomez wrote that in a letter from Madrid.
"Over 50 dead and 300 wounded have already been counted."
There are thousands of people reading that now
and shouting out, "You bastards!"
Where's MY anger?
What's wrong with me?
You bastard fascists have done it.
No, your anger is false, empty, inert.
But you can't force emotions, can you?
To be out there fighting, that would be freedom, wouldn't it?
Fight till the death.
No, for you it'd be an escape.
You don't fight seeking your own death.
That's an indulgence. You fight for people.
People matter.
She matters.
Marcelle matters.
Oh, does she?
Well, if you really feel compassion, phone her.
You should have done hours ago.
Right.
PHONE RINGS
Hello? Hello, Marcelle?
Is that you? Yes, darling.
Well?
Well, I went to that address you gave me last night.
It's absolutely impossible. You can count it out.
All right, now what?
Well, I found someone else through Sara.
Some...someone very good. How much?
4,000 francs. How much? 4,000.
It's impossible. I'll have to go to...
No, you won't. I'll borrow it.
Who from? Jacques?
No, Jacques refuses. I had a session with him midday.
Have you asked your friend, Daniel? I went to see him.
Well? He says he's broke.
A bloody liar. He's loaded with money.
You didn't tell him what it was for. No.
Sure? Of course not.
Well, where WILL you get the money, then?
Oh, don't worry. I'll... I'll get it. I'll get it somehow.
Well, get it. Get it.
Marcelle?
Marcelle, are you all right?
Perfectly.
You're not too... I'm at the end of my tether.
Do the best you can, won't you?
Mathieu?
I'll bring you the 4,000 francs tomorrow evening.
I do love you, you know.
HE SIGHS
Oh.
UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYS
IN HEAD: No, I don't think he's a homo.
He's come in here by chance.
Ah, the type who enjoys touching himself.
The most alluring type of all, that type. Joy.
Dear God, let him win the electric torch, please.
The last of his money.
He hasn't had a meal since yesterday.
So lovely and yet so deprived.
He needs me to take care of him.
Stop it. Daniel, stop it.
Not tonight.
I must follow him. I must.
The nightmares come again.
I have the ache, that all-engulfing melancholy from within.
You must resist it.
Resist!
Oh, God. I'm delivered.
Here comes my victim.
Corseted too. A corseted old queen.
Now for some fun.
Here she comes.
What a nauseating piece of...
Jiggle your buttocks. That's it.
How I hate large hips. As bad as female flesh.
Yes, the old sod will take him home,
bathe him, soap him and daub him with scent all over.
It takes two to play, doesn't it?
I try to get my ball in your goalmouth and you try to stop me.
Is that it?
You must be at one side, I'm at the other.
Shall we play?
If you like.
It won't come out.
Let me show you. Please.
LOUD CLANK
Oh, that is clever.
You must have had a lot of practice.
I know the knack. Obviously.
I'll let you work the knob.
Oh, yes.
Oh, you're so good at it.
You score every time.
Tell me...
..do you come here often?
IN HEAD: Now for the rites of departure.
The gentleman will go first
and the boy will join him in two or three minutes.
I shall follow them both.
I shall tell the old man I am a police detective
in charge of offences against morals.
I'll take his name and have him shaking with terror.
HE CHUCKLES
I shall feel so exquisitely pure and righteous.
Evening, Danny. Hmm?
How's tricks?
Get away from me. I told you never to approach me.
But I want to have a word with you.
IN HEAD: Oh, God, everything's spoilt.
He thinks I'm an old queen like himself.
How I hate this Freemasonry of the cottage.
I'd rather kill myself than be like you, you old...
Friend of yours?
What do you want? I'm in a hurry.
You don't sound very pleased to see me.
IN HEAD: I was attracted to him once because he looked like a cat.
I thought you might like to know I moved from where I was.
I found a new place.
I'm sharing it with Ralph.
You know Ralph. Him what goes in for all that wrestling.
He's a dirty little... Oh, but he speaks well of you, does Ralph.
We were only talking about you this morning.
I said to him, "If Danny only knew how hard up we are at the moment,
"I'm sure he'd help."
How much do you want?
If you could lend us 100 francs.
And I do mean lend.
Here's 50. I give it to you. Now get away from me. Go on!
If you'd like the new address. It's 6 Rue de Gare.
Seventh floor. Go!
Bye.
IN HEAD: 6 Rue de Gare, seventh floor.
Forget it.
Concentrate on something else.
You're on your way to see Marcelle,
think about Marcelle...and Mathieu.
Destroy Mathieu.
Make him marry her. He's so aloof, so pure.
Well, bring him down.
Good. That's better.
6 Rue de Gare.
Forget that address. Wipe it from your mind.
Mathieu, think only about him.
He talks about you behind your back.
He must do.
You hate him.
Let him feel humiliation as you think.
Let him have loathing for the flesh he sleeps with, as you have.
6 Rue de Gare, seventh floor.
Admit it, you'll destroy Mathieu and then visit that address.
That's what will happen.
For I am a truly evil man.
But don't worry about it.
Being truly evil can be remarkably satisfying.
I simply want to know if he'll be joining us this evening.
At the Sumatra? Yes.
Does Lola know you've invited me? Yes.
Doesn't she mind? Of course she minds.
But I'd like her to get to know you better.
DOORBELL RINGS
Excuse me.
Well, you old fascist hyena, I said I'd look in on you.
Who's this? Oh, Brunet, this is Boris.
Oh, yes, I've heard of you. You're his famous disciple, aren't you?
Boris doesn't like to be thought of as my disciple.
Neither would I. Do sit down.
Oh, no, not there.
Your armchairs are too corrupting.
Still working at the philosophy?
I've just taken my finals.
Ah, a degree in it, eh? Not bad.
You wouldn't think me rude if I were to have Mathieu to myself for a few minutes?
Oh, you want me to go?
I'll see you this evening. Right, goodbye.
I'll join you about 11. Yes, till this evening.
Do you mind that? My getting rid of him like that?
Not at all. I don't see you often. Yeah.
Pity.
We ought to get together more, you know, the three of us.
Three? Yeah. You and I and Daniel.
Ah, yes.
And romance about our student days, eh? Uh-huh.
How is Daniel? Do you still see him?
We keep in close touch, strange as it may seem.
And you? What are you doing with yourself nowadays? Same old thing.
Oh, teaching?
14 hours a week and long summer holidays. That's about it.
And your brother, still as right wing as ever, is he?
He thinks our right wing isn't dynamic enough. Oh.
He'll soon be a fascist.
I saw him this morning, as a matter of fact.
It wasn't all that friendly. Why not?
He gave me one of his sermons. He wants to alter me.
Time you were. What? Altered.
But not by him, I trust.
Look, Mathieu, I haven't got much time. I've got a meeting.
When I saw you at Sara's, you looked so washed out,
I thought I'd better come and have a word with you.
I look washed out, do I? You look bloody awful.
Now, what's wrong with you?
I'm worried about money, like anybody else.
Money? What's money, Mathieu?
You and I have known each other a long time, right?
You're all tangled up, aren't you?
You're living off theories that don't pay.
You think so?
IN HEAD: He's come to help me.
Busy as he is, he's put himself out to help.
All the same, it would have been better if he'd come simply to see me again.
Mathieu, I'll come straight to the point.
Will you join the party?
Party? I'll take you along now. Get it settled straight away.
For the Communist Party?
Well, you don't think I'm talking about the fascist movement, do you?
Well, don't look so suspicious. I'm not a recruiting sergeant.
Look, Mathieu, let's get it straight,
the party doesn't need you. We've got intellectuals now.
But you need the party.
I'm sorry. I'm taken aback.
It's very good of you.
You...
You think I need to join? Well, don't you?
You're living in a void, man. You're adrift.
You're a nothing.
Not much fun, is it?
Not much.
You're a real old pal, aren't you? Mm-hm.
You've renounced an easy, smug existence to be free.
All right, then. Take it one step further.
Renounce your freedom and find yourself.
Now you're talking like a priest.
No, seriously, now.
It wouldn't be a sacrifice, it'd be an enrichment.
I discover a whole new world.
Real actions. Real passions.
That's my trouble. I've lost a sense of reality.
Nothing seems altogether true.
All right, then. What's holding you back?
Well, I suppose I've got a lot of commitments at the moment.
There's only one commitment with us.
It covers all other commitments.
Loyalty to the party. As a loyal member, you'd be safe.
You wouldn't have any problems.
Yes. The private problems of the individual are anathema to you.
They must be. Do you enjoy your private problems with the individual? Not much.
Well, then. If I were to commit myself, it would be for your side.
There is no other choice. But? I need time.
Time? There's not much time left. Not for any of us.
We'll be at war by September. War?
The second fortnight in September,
the Germans will enter Czechoslovakia.
Oh, that's some scaremongering rubbish. We know.
Look, Mathieu, I'll give you till tomorrow morning to think it over.
I'll call here. 9:00 in the morning on the dot. Agreed?
Agreed. More than enough time.
Tomorrow. Well, thanks for calling round.
I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.
IN HEAD: Why couldn't I just say yes and be done with it?
I couldn't because I've got my woman pregnant.
I've got to sort out my private life first.
That's not true.
Join the party and they'll tell me how to deal with any problem.
Marxism encompasses all.
Even Marcelle. You know that.
And what's the difficulty, then?
Maybe I enjoy my individual problems.
Maybe I don't want the ideal world I've believed in.
Why? Why?
Perhaps it's because I don't want to be like other people.
# Les mains se tendent de tous cotes
# Les chaines sont lourdes, puis-je les oter?
# Un seul pas contre la tyrannie
# Une raison d'etre dans toute ma vie
# La route est dure mais je suis forte
# Mon ame est sure, la peur est morte
# Je sais quoi faire avec la vie
# Quand toute la terre sera affranchie. #